Swift, which acts at the platform for more than 10,000 financial institutions and businesses in 210 countries, began producing forecasts for the 34 mainly Western members of the Paris-based OECD thinktank last year.

Its latest figures point to a recovery of the OECD economies in the first quarter of 2012, with 0.5 per cent growth pencilled in for the current quarter and a 0.6 per cent expansion predicted for the second quarter of 2012.

The organisation said: "This would indicate that after the slowdown of Q4 2011, there is moderate expansion taking place in the OECD countries."........'